Search

You are here

What We Do

U.S. Climate Initiative

Providing support for ambitious implementation of the Climate Action Plan to achieve near-term emission reductions and to enable the Obama Administration to put forward an ambitious offer for the 2015 agreement.

The United States' Climate Action Plan lays out the steps the Administration will take to address climate change, and the coming months and years will be crucial for taking ambitious steps to reduce carbon pollution from power plants, methane from natural gas systems, and HFCs from refrigeration and cooling systems. WRI is well positioned to inform the debate as to what those agencies can do under the law, and what they need to do for the U.S. to meet its 2020 commitment – namely, enact “go-getter” level emissions standards across all major emitting sources and the full suite of greenhouse gases.

While attention is focused on what can be done now under existing authority, we must simultaneously lay the foundation for longer-term action. The timing for developing this roadmap is critical, since the Administration will have to put forward for the international negotiations in 2015 a reduction target for the post-2020 time period.

WRI has established a reputation for analytic strength in the analysis of what can be achieved in climate policy – first through our work analyzing the various legislative proposals, and more recently through our analysis of what can be done using existing authorities. We have become the go-to place for numbers on the potential emission reductions of new policies, especially when looking at how to approach climate policy from a comprehensive, across-the-economy perspective. Our goal with this project is to complete the foundational analysis for a long-term plan so that it is ready when it is needed.